Iola High senior Xander Sellman has some unfinished business.
The Mustang senior is one of the key components on a golf team harboring dreams of qualifying for the state tournament later this month.
Sellman qualified as a sophomore, and missed by a single stroke to qualify in both his freshman and junior seasons.
So, yeah, he’s itching to get back to state in his final year of high school.
But regardless of when Sellman drains his final putt for the Blue and Gold, he knows where his game will take him in college.
Sellman, son of Jeremy and Amber Sellman, signed a letter of intent to play golf next year for McCook Community College in southwest Nebraska. He gathered for a signing ceremony with his family and classmates at IHS Wednesday
Sellman said he bonded with McCook’s golf coach and his future teammates during a recent recruiting trip.
But mostly, opting for McCook will allow him to play on an entirely different circuit of golf courses than the ones he’s played in eastern Kansas.
“That’s the main thing,” he said. “I’ll get to play in courses in Colorado and Wyoming, up in the mountains.”
Sellman plans to work toward a degree in engineering.
JEREMY SELLMAN, Xander’s father and head golf coach at IHS, is bullish on his hopes for a strong finish for the Mustang golfers.
That’s because Xander, senior Christopher Holloway and sophomore Brennen Coffield each have qualified as individuals for the state tournament in past years. All three are capable of qualifying again this year.
And if the Mustangs can garner a top-two team finish at regionals, the entire squad will be statebound.
“If they play at regionals like they’ve played the last couple of weeks, they’ll have no trouble qualifying as a team for the state tournament,” Jeremy Sellman said.
The season will conclude with a whirlwind of competition. The Mustangs were scheduled to be at Burlington Thursday for the Pioneer League Tournament, but that was called off because of weather. The golfers will be at Chanute Monday, Anderson County Tuesday and Prairie View Thursday. The Class 3A Regionals will be May 13 at Osawatomie’s municipal golf course for a potential state tournament bid. The Class 3A State Tournament will be in Emporia May 20-21.
